No messages were received from U-12 after it sailed from Wilhelmshaven on 23 September 1939 to operate in the English Channel. The boat was reported missing on 20 October when it failed to return and is believed to have been mined and sunk in the Dover-Calais mine barrage.

General notes on this boat

29 Oct 1939. The body of U-12's commanding officer, Kptlt. Dietrich von der Ropp, was washed ashore on the French coast near Dunkirk.

Men lost from U-boats

Unlike many other U-boats, which during their service lost men due to accidents and various other causes, U-12 did not suffer any casualties (we know of) until the time of her loss.

Media links

There was another U-12 in World War OneThat boat was launched from its shipyard on 6 May 1910 and commissioned into the Imperial Navy on 13 Aug 1911. The Naval war in WWI was brought to an end with the Armistice signed on 11 Nov, 1918. Read about SM U 12 during WWI.